


Chaos Kills

by Decaykid



Category: Heathers (1988), Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: Ableist Language, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Gen, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-27 22:00:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15034208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Decaykid/pseuds/Decaykid
Summary: Elliot learns about Mr. Robot's past.





	Chaos Kills

"That's crazy, kid." Smoke leaves his lips as he chuckles, and Elliot feels something warm crawl up his neck.

"Angela tells it better." He tries to ignore the way their fingers brush as Mr. Robot hands the blunt back to Elliot.

"Angela," he says, as if testing the name in his mouth, "how long have you two known each other?"

Elliot inhales deeply, holds it, and slowly exhales, and uses the moment to debate going there with Mr. Robot. After all, the last time he opened up to the man, he was pushed off a rail.

"Since we were kids," he replies, watching the smoke cloud his vision. He figures he's relatively safe in his apartment. At the very least, should Mr. Robot get the urge to shove him off the couch, the fall to floor shouldn't hurt much. "Her mom worked for E Corp like my dad. We met at a company picnic, I think we were around five."

"Really?" Elliot can't place the tone in his voice, but he doesn't like it.

"It's just that girls like her don't usually hang around guys like you, especially in High School with things like 'friends' and 'reputation' matter."

"Angela's not like that." His words rush out, he feels defensive. He takes another puff, tries to relax.

He's not an idiot, he's aware of his social status as an outcast and what that held. He knows Angela could've- should've- dumped him all those years ago, but she knew what their friendship meant. They shared something she didn't have with her other friends- loss. So she'd sit with him at lunch, even when he told her she could go sit with her friends. They would walk home together, no matter what anyone said behind her back. And whenever she got invited to things, she always extended it to him even though he declined every time. This went beyond high school as well, she got him his job at Allsafe, despite his record. Although there he feels a bit more at ease, being around fellow hackers, even if the social intricacies are the same.

"Elliot? You still here?"

He blinks, hands the weed over, ignores the brush of fingers, sticks his hands in his pockets.

"Look kid, I didn't mean any offense."

Elliot shrugs. Mr. Robot calling him a loser is the least offensive thing he's done.

"For what it's worth, high school was a bitch for me too."

As much as he tries, Elliot can't imagine Mr. Robot as anything other than he is now; he sees a middle aged man bundled up in layers sitting in a math class among kids more than half his age.

"Moved around a lot, part of my father's job. Never stayed in one place too long."

Somehow this makes sense to Elliot.

"They were all the same though. Same rules, same cliques."

Befriending people must've been difficult, so he eventually learned to hang back, become unaffiliated, observe.

"The same social hierarchies. The same self appointed leaders seeking validation by taking from those they deem worthless by their own standards, their same self appointed laws..."

Elliot's heard this speech while dangling above Coney Island.

He takes the blunt again, prepares to here the older man drone on about social injustices. It's not that Elliot disagrees, he just hates hearing the same thing hashed out over and over.

"... then I met a girl. She was different than the others. Or so I thought."

_Oh god._ Maybe this is Elliot's fault for asking all those questions in the subway. It's not as if he wants to know where Mr. Robot spent his summers as a kid or what he calls his grandmother, he just wanted a fair assessment of the man before he followed him to god knows where. _'Load of good that did.'_ Mr. Robot's teenage flings is _not_ nor _ever_ will be anything her wants to learn.

"... she was just as dissatisfied by the system as I was..."

Somehow he can't help feel disappointment, to learn the ever elusive Mr. Robot is just like everyone else. A teen boy feeling alienated and unable to reach out to his father. He eventually finds solstice in a girl he thinks feels the same way. How... ordinary. He finishes off the blunt.

"... then we killed her best friend."

Elliot chokes. His heart's racing, there's a ringing in his ears and he can't breathe.

"You what?" He rasps, throat burning with each word. Fuck. He knew it. This man is a fucking psycho. And he's _sitting_ on his _couch_.

Mr. Robot holds his hand up as if signaling for silence.

"It's get better. We staged it as a suicide."

Elliot stares. He think his mouth is open. Can Mr. Robot hear his heartbeat?

"She knew her handwriting, see? Cause she always did their homework. But get this, the next day the bitch's name is _everywhere_..."

Elliot settles back into the couch. He pushes himself back into the armrest, putting space between and Mr. Robot and he keeps himself at an angle so he can face him, to better keep an eye on him. However the man seems to pose no threat, he's too wrapped up in his story.

"... these two guys, and," Mr. Robot laughs- a dry, raspy sound, one that sends a shiver down Elliot's spine, "she wrote 'forbidden love quote', and we had all this shit in the bag, and everyone fucking believed it!"

Mr. Robot's laughter dies down as he adopts a more somber expression. Elliot swallows though his mouth his dry.

"Everything caught up to her, I guess: realization of what we were doing. She couldn't handle it."

"W-What'd you do?" Elliot asks, if only to keep him talking, to keep him distracted, though he's terrified of the words that may come next.

"Continued on with the plan."

"Wh-which was?"

"To blow up the school."

_We're gonna blow up Steel Mountain._

Bullshit.

There's no way he went through with it. He wouldn't be here if he did, he'd be locked up somewhere...

"A-oh kiddo. That girl got the best of me. "

Here it comes, the part where they kissed and confessed the-

"She shot me a few times, I stopped the bomb, then I faked my death."

Elliot's mouth is hanging open again, noiseless.

"Wasn't hard to do. She'd done it earlier."

Mr. Robot sighs, leans back into the couch and closes his eyes.

"I learned an important lesson from her. Though a lot of people may feel dissatisfied with the way things are, or the way their life is, very few actually have the strength to do anything about it. Like you, Elliot, leaving the .readme file in the database, or going into Steel Mountain like you did. You get the cause, and you're willing to do what it takes."  
Though in Mr. Robot's eyes it's meant as a compliment, it doesn't set well with Elliot and leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

"I learned something else from her as well. I realized what a piece of shit scumbag my father was. So, after my death, I took some time off, learned my way around a computer, and exposed my father for what he really was. His company went down, and he with it. And thus began my pursuits in social justice."

Elliot just stares. His brain struggles to process the information. Words are beyond his comprehension. Mr. Robot's brows furrow.

"Have too much to smoke, kid? I think you should lay down, you're not looking so good."

"I-"

Mr. Robot smiles and stands from the couch.

"Addah boy. I'll see myself out. Make sure you get some rest, we'll need you tomorrow."

Elliot waits until he's certain Mr. Robot has left the complex before he locks his door.

Shit.

What _has_ he gotten himself into?

**Author's Note:**

> Found this lil gem while going through an old email account. Fandom sure was a different place before The Reveal. :,)


End file.
